Skip to content
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland
  • Home
  • About us
    • About us
    • What we do
      • What we do
      • Our organisation
      • Our values
      • Our corporate plan
      • Get involved
      • Annual statements of compliance
    • Our team
      • Our team
      • Craig Naylor
      • Brian McInulty
      • Rebecca Duncan
      • Ray Jones
      • Annie Crowley
      • Maggie Pettigrew
      • John Paterson
      • Jenny Morrison
      • Rhona Ford
      • Debbie Kyle
      • Pamela Colvin
      • Carly Bryce
      • Keri-Anne Balfour
      • Joanna Gardner
      • Ioanna Kiriklidou
    • Our history
      • Our history
      • Colonel John Grant Kinloch
      • Alexander Morrison
    • Partnership working
      • Partnership working
      • Healthcare Improvement Scotland
      • Care Inspectorate
      • National Preventive Mechanism (NPM)
      • Audit Scotland
      • HM Inspectorate of Prosecution in Scotland
  • Publications
    • Publications
    • Recommendations tracker
  • News
  • Our approach to scrutiny
    • Our approach to scrutiny
    • Our scrutiny plans
      • Our scrutiny plans
      • HMICS Scrutiny plan 2025-28
      • HMICS Scrutiny plan 2023 review
      • HMICS Scrutiny plan 2022-25 - update
      • HMICS Scrutiny plan 2022-25
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2021-22
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2020-21
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2019-20
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2018-19 - update
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2018-19
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2017-18 - update
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2017-18
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2016-17
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny Plan 2015-16
      • HMICS Annual scrutiny plan 2014-15
    • Our inspection framework
  • Contact
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary calls for new misconduct in public office law

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary calls for new misconduct in public office law

Press releases
25th September 2024

HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary calls for new misconduct in public office law

Press Release HMICS Annual Report 2023 24
Press Release HMICS Annual Report 2023 24

Police officers in Scotland who abuse their position should face a similar criminal charge to their colleagues south of the border.

His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary in Scotland, Mr Craig Naylor, has used his annual report to call on the Scottish Government to consider new legislation relating to misconduct in public office.

He said a recent HMICS inspection of the vetting regime in Police Scotland had led to improvements concerning both the recruitment of new, and re-vetting of existing officers and staff.

He said Police Scotland had separately responded to review recommendations made by Lady Elish Angiolini in relation to the way it dealt with misconduct.

But Mr Naylor said while police constables in England and Wales can face a charge of committing misconduct in public office, no such offence exists for officers in Scotland.

Officers in English and Welsh services have recently faced misconduct in public office charges in relation to offences including the inappropriate sharing of information, or unauthorised access to police systems.

Mr Naylor would like to see a new misconduct in public office law introduced in Scotland, to help strengthen public trust in the professional standards of Police Scotland’s officers and staff, and in the policing system.

Launching the HMICS Annual Report for 2023-24, Mr Naylor said: “One aspect of this area of policing that is missing in Scotland is the concept of misconduct in public office.
“This charge has a high evidential test but is used, sparingly, in England and Wales, where it exists as an option when there is misuse of the office of constable.
“This test, and the case law associated with it, provides options that could strengthen public protection from officers or staff who misuse their position for personal gain.
“Establishing a code of ethics based upon a legislative position as proposed in the Police (Ethics, Conduct and Scrutiny) (Scotland) Bill, will put the service in a strong position.
“I support this legislation and hope that it progresses through the parliamentary process to allow for the changes needed to assure the public.”

HMICS was set up to help improve policing in Scotland.

It does this through rigorous assessment and analysis, providing valuable insights into the effectiveness and efficiency of policing services, highlighting both areas for improvement and innovation.

Over the past 12 months HMICS has carried out reviews in areas including the organisational culture of Police Scotland and the wellbeing of its officers and staff.

Following disclosure that cases of drug driving had been marked as ‘no proceedings’ by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, it carried out an assurance review of the Scottish Police Authority’s forensic toxicology provision – making 25 recommendations for improvement.

It also worked with key scrutiny partners on four custody inspections, four children at risk of harm inspections, and seven adult support and protection inspections.

As a result of the reviews HMICS conducted in 2023/24, Mr Naylor has raised concerns including that too much of frontline officers’ time is being taken up responding to mental-health related incidents.

He said these should be managed primarily by health and social care services.

Work is now ongoing across government, health and other partners to ensure those who experience a mental health crisis get the most appropriate response to improve their wellbeing.

A further HMICS report revealed low staffing levels, disruption of rest days and the poor state of many police buildings were among issues making officers feel vulnerable and at times unsafe.

The report called on Police Scotland to develop a cohesive wellbeing strategy that addressed what really impacted on the physical and mental health of their officers and staff.

The HMICS annual report for 2023/24 is the first to be published since new Police Scotland Chief Constable Jo Farrell took up her post in October last year.

Mr Naylor said there was strong evidence that Ms Farrell’s early commitment to refresh the organisation’s vision and devise a new performance framework, were “being worked on at pace.”

He praised Police Scotland’s “exceptional workforce” of officers and staff, who he said were deeply committed to protecting the vulnerable, supporting victims of crime and helping keep people safe across the country.

Mr Naylor said HMICS had also been working closely with Audit Scotland to ensure best value in policing.

He agreed with recent comments made by the Auditor General for Scotland, Mr Stephen Boyle, that ‘significant reform of the public sector – including its workforce – was needed to protect services over the long term’.

He said while budgetary challenges would play a role in any future redesign of Police Scotland, improved integration of services across the public sector was key.

Mr Naylor said: “The need for a further reform of policing is widely acknowledged, but this must focus on defining the organisation that the future public of Scotland will need and can afford.
“This includes ensuring that wider systems are joined up and that responsibility for service delivery is apportioned fairly to relevant expertise across the public sector, since failing to deliver reform in other services defeats the benefits delivered by Police Scotland.”
He added: “Police Scotland has been on a reform journey for the past 11 years and – while there remain opportunities to redesign the organisation to meet future budgetary challenges – I am clear that such reform cannot simply be a further reduction of capability within policing.”

Additional

Full report

  • Annual Report 2023 - 2024

Share this page

Site Map
Cookie Policy
Accessibility
Data Protection
Freedom of Information
© 2025 HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland

We use the necessary cookies to make our site work. We'd also like to set analytics cookies that help us make improvements by measuring how you use the site. These will be set only if you accept.

For more detailed information about the cookies we use, see our Cookie Policy.